Insider: Hoosiers respond for Archie Miller in Penn State win

IU head coach Archie Miller meets with the media postgame to recap Indiana's win against Penn State on Tuesday.
Teddy Bailey/For IndyStar

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Indiana Hoosiers head coach Archie Miller signals to his team late in the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2018.(Photo: Michael Hickey/For IndyStar)Buy Photo

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BLOOMINGTON – Archie Miller only had two days to turn Indiana around between the win at Minnesota and a home date with Penn State. So, somewhere between the flight home from Minneapolis and the Nittany Lions’ arrival, Miller talked to his team about responses.

Specifically, about the poor ones IU has turned in right after playing well. After Duke came Michigan. After Iowa came Louisville. After Notre Dame came Fort Wayne.

“We addressed that, that we’ve done that twice, that we had a big win and then a falloff,” redshirt senior forward Collin Hartman said. “Coach brought it up first, and then I think it trickled down through all the guys, older guys all the way down.”

There was virtually no falloff Tuesday night, in a 74-70 win over Penn State that Miller said Indiana “grinded” out. IU (10-7, 3-2) broke the cycle of one step forward, one step back, at least for 40 minutes. The Hoosiers won the kind of game that put a smile on Miller’s face in his news conference afterward.

“Really good win for our team,” Miller said. “Thought we really grinded one out here today when we didn’t shoot the ball really well. Found other ways to make the plays we needed to win.”

Indiana upset Minnesota thanks to star efforts from Juwan Morgan, Robert Johnson and Justin Smith, but its offense never flowed so smoothly Tuesday.

The Hoosiers moved the ball and moved the Nittany Lions so relentlessly that many, if not most, of their 27 3-point attempts were quality looks. Only six of them went down. It’s fair to wonder if this team will ever regain the shooting touch that had become so second nature in recent years.

Earlier in the season, Miller saw heads fall and focus slip when the 3s rimmed out. Not against Penn State.

“I think we’ve played through some ups and downs,” Miller said, “some runs in days gone by, when you shot the ball the way we shot it in the first half, we’ve tended to go away. That didn’t happen.”

IU grounded its performance in things other than its offense. IU wouldn’t let its offense define Tuesday night. So IU progressed.

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Indiana Hoosiers guard Zach McRoberts (15) is greeted by teammates after fouling out during the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Michael Hickey/For IndyStar

Indiana Hoosiers guard Robert Johnson (4) brings the ball up court during the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Michael Hickey /For IndyStar

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Archie Miller signals to his team late in the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Michael Hickey/For IndyStar

Indiana's Robert Johnson, left, and Penn State's Jamari Wheeler eye a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, in Bloomington, Ind. Darron Cummings, AP

Penn State's Lamar Stevens (11) goes up for a dunk against Indiana's Juwan Morgan during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, in Bloomington, Ind. Darron Cummings, AP

Penn State's Tony Carr (10) is called for a foul against Indiana's Devonte Green during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, in Bloomington, Ind. Darron Cummings, AP

Penn State shot almost a full 10 percent better from the floor. Nittany Lions stars Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr combined for 48 points and nine rebounds. Though the Hoosiers led through much of Tuesday’s game, Penn State made them work for it — the deficit stayed within single digits for the last 13 minutes.

“It’s about playing to win, going and getting the win. Finding a way to win,” Miller said.

Again, Indiana had to do things differently Tuesday than it did over the weekend. The formula for success had to be tweaked.

Smith was sidelined with foul trouble. Johnson was just 3-of-13 from the floor. Those good looks refused to fall.

And yet, despite all of Penn State’s pushing and prodding, over those final 13 minutes, the game was never even tied. Whenever the Nittany Lions looked like constructing a run, Indiana pulled together and put a stop to it. Josh Newkirk and Devonte Green each made crunch-time free throws to seal the win.

“Instead of everybody going their separate ways and trying to figure it out on their own, we came together to try to find a solution,” Johnson said.

Tuesday night, Johnson referenced what he said were back-to-back “40-minute efforts,” but truthfully, IU has actually played five good halves in six now. All that went wrong in the second half at Wisconsin last week shouldn’t be discounted or forgotten, but if this season is also a never-ending search for context, it’s important to see the entire picture of what Indiana has done since Big Ten play resumed.

But Penn State followed Minnesota. After one good performance came another. They were different, which in a way is even more encouraging. Miller wants a team that plays to win, and no two wins have to look identical. They all count the same in the end.

He’s got two in a row now, in Big Ten play no less. Now he’ll be looking for three.